Gail Novenario
Gail Novenario was a contestant on Season 8 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 5th place. Personality Gail was one of the early favorites, but her performance was very inconsistent, giving one good service and one bad. When she was eliminated, Ramsay told her he thought she would have gone further. Season 8 Episode 1 When Gail arrived at Hell's Kitchen, she wondered where Ramsay and Jean-Philippe were as the doors to the restaurant were locked. After James introduced himself, all the chefs put blindfolds on, and were taken to the prize restaurant, the LA Market, in Los Angeles. Then, they returned to Hell's Kitchen, and were asked to cook their signature dishes. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Gail was the fifth person on the red team to have their dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Trev. It was unknown what she made, but Ramsay told her that she burned the potatoes on her dish. She did not score a point along with Trev. The red team lost after Ramsay broke the 3 point tie in favor of the blue team, and were forced to clean up both of the kitchens ahead of next night's service. During dinner service, Gail was on the garnish station. She told Sabrina not to send up her Wellingtons, as they were still waiting on the halibut and tagliatelle, but an impatient Sabrina decided to send them up anyway. Both teams lost dinner service, and were asked to nominate two people each. Gail was not nominated for elimination. During elimination, she whispered that Sabrina's argument about Nona snoring a lot was a low blow. Episode 2 During the Sushi Challenge, Gail was paired up with Melissa. The two had the worst overall performance as not only were they missing a salmon roll, but the rolls were cut poorly and the tuna was improperly sliced. Because of that, they scored no points and the red team lost the challenge 15-16. Their punishment was to prep sushi for next night's service and eat a squid lunch. She was upset about her poor performance, but Jillian managed to calm her down. While the rest of the team was disgusted by their squid dinner, she happily ate it as she was used to eating food like that. During dinner service, Gail was on the appetizer station. She got her first orders accepted by Ramsay, allowing her team to start off strong. She was later seen telling Emily to turn her convection oven higher due to Emily serving raw meat. Her team won the service after the blue team got ejected from service. Episode 3 Gail was not seen much in the Paramedic Service Challenge, but the red team won the challenge. They won a trip to Santa Monica where they had lunch at the Viceroy Hotel along with trapeze lessons. During dinner service, Gail was on the meat station. At one point, she looked distracted and did not pay attention to one of her ribeye steaks catching on fire. Ramsay took the flaming pan into the sink and accused her of giving up, but she managed to redeem herself with a perfectly cooked beef dish. Her team lost the service as they only received a 50% approval rating compared to the blue team's 54% approval rating. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 4 Back in the dorms, Gail and Melissa agreed not to let anything get too dirty from the red team. Before the next challenge, Ramsay asked the chefs to refrain from smoking for the next 48 hours. During the Ravioli Challenge, Gail asked if she could move down to the sixth and last ranking as she was not confident about her dish. Ramsay reluctantly agreed to it and was surprised that an Executive Chef like her was not confident in her own dish. She was the last person from the red team to compete and went up against Trev. She made a braised short rib ravioli with sun-dried tomato paste, and while Ramsay said that the dish tasted nice, it lost out to Trev's dish as her dish was under seasoned. Her team lost the challenge 3-4 and was forced to prep both kitchens for the following night's service, and make pasta and mozzarella cheese from scratch. After punishment, she and Trev talked about how the latter was not feeling welcomed in the blue team. Trev then jokingly asked if they could make out, but she refused it. Before service began, Gail sheepishly admitted to smoking a cigarette last night. During the Italian Night dinner service, she was on the pasta station. She tried to communicate with Sabrina who was on the grilling station that night, but got confused by Sabrina's inconsistent timing. Sabrina then decided to make her look bad by sending her pork up, despite the pasta not ready yet. That forced her to send the pasta up, but it was raw and crunchy, leading to Ramsay berating her for her comical performance despite her experience. After the red team finished their tickets before the blue team, Ramsay sent them over to the blue kitchen to help the men out. However, both teams got confused on orders, which led to Ramsay ejecting both teams from service. Both teams were named joint-losers, and Ramsay told them to nominate two people for elimination. Up in the dorms, Sabrina and Jillian agreed that Gail was to be nominated for elimination that night. However, Nona disagreed with them and told her that she wanted Sabrina gone. During elimination, Gail's name was called up by Nona, but it was quickly retracted to Sabrina's name. So, she was not nominated for elimination. Episode 5 Back in the dorms, Gail, along with Emily, Melissa, and Nona expressed surprise that Sabrina was still around despite being worthless to the red team and for her poor attitude. Gail was not seen much during the Prom Planning Challenge, but the red team won 3-0 and went to Knott's Berry Farm for the day. During the Prom Night dinner service, Gail as on the garnish station. She was seen helping out Emily as the latter was struggling on crab cakes. At one point, she sent up some purple goop that Ramsay compared to both Barbie's vomit and purple snot. When she took the blame, Ramsay told her to get a grip. Her team lost service and Sabrina was named the "Best of the Worst". Gail was not nominated for elimination, even though Russell, Rob, and Jillian tried to convince Sabrina to nominate her. Episode 6 Before the next challenge, the red team said goodbye to Melissa as she was moved to the blue team and said hello to Trev as he joined them. During the Salad Challenge, Gail was the first person from her team to compete and went up against Boris. Her five spiced scallop salad with radicchio and romaine and a rice wine vinaigrette got praised for its beautiful presentation and for perfectly cooked scallops, and she won the round over Boris. Despite that, her team lost the challenge after Ramsay broke the two point tie in favor of the blue team, and they were forced to prep both kitchens for that night's service and eat a flower salad. During punishment, she tried to reassure an upset Trev that they tried to no avail. During dinner service, Gail was on the appetizer station. Her first attempt at the lobster spaghetti came out perfectly and Ramsay urged her to keep that consistency for that night. Both teams were named joint-losers, and Ramsay told them to nominate two people for elimination. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 7 Before heading upstairs, Gail told Sabrina that her major problem was her poor attitude, a fact that the rest of the team agreed with. During the Hell's Kitchen Roulette Challenge, Gail landed on F and chose fennel. She was not seen much during the cooking, but the red team won the challenge and went to The Rio in Las Vegas for an overnight visit and met Penn and Teller. During the Family Night dinner service, Gail was on the fish station. She was not seen much that night, but had to break up an argument between Sabrina and Trev. Despite the fact that both teams were named joint-winners after they received a 90% approval rating, Ramsay said that he still wanted two nominees for elimination. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 8 Back in the dorms, Gail was told by Jillian that there was no way Sabrina could win Hell's Kitchen. During the Budget Challenge, Gail was paired up with Jillian on the pork dish and she presented their dish against Boris. Their pan-seared pork tenderloin with roasted beets and shallots was praised for its beets, but the pork was bland and received $28. The red team won the challenge $110 to $101 and were rewarded with a sail boat trip, ate a waterfront dinner at the Maya hotel, and received salsa lessons. During dinner service, Gail was on the meat station. She approved Nona's suggestion of using a recycled risotto for their next order, but Ramsay rejected it. Despite that, she sent up perfect Wellingtons and her team won dinner service. During elimination, Gail and the rest of the red team said goodbye to Boris who was eliminated that night. Episode 9 After Boris' elimination, Gail said goodbye to Trev as he was sent back to the blue team. Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 15 Trivia *She is the second contestant of Philippine origins, following Louross from Season 4. Quotes *(During the Sushi Challenge): "You'd think I'd be able to know how to make sushi, but I can't. I'm not Japanese." Category:Chef Category:Season 8 Category:Black Jacket